


family looks out for each other

by sunkissedstar



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Anxiety, Brotherly Love, Cold Weather, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Insecurity, Winter, elmer is babey, he's like 12 or 13, jack adores this kid but god he's such a dumbass, very few braincells happening here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:48:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22485079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkissedstar/pseuds/sunkissedstar
Summary: “Hey. Hey, kid.”Elmer opened his eyes sluggishly, lifting his head from his arms to face the cold wind biting his ears. It was too dark to see, but there was a hand on his chest and another in his hair, and Elmer had one guess to who it was.~There's a blizzard raging outside, the headline is terrible, and Elmer doesn't bother asking for help. Jack isn't amused.
Relationships: Jack Kelly & Elmer (Newsies)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 68





	family looks out for each other

**Author's Note:**

> i call this one “i projected my insecurities on elmer in the middle of the night but it turned out cheesy and cute”
> 
> trigger warning: cold, insecurities, anxiety
> 
> enjoy!!

“Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen…”

Elmer cursed under his breath, curling his fist around his pay for the day. _Twenty cents._ That was barely enough to buy the morning papers.

January was a rough month for every newsie, and the cold weather was hitting them hard. Romeo and Smalls were both down with the flu, and even Jack hadn’t been selling more than sixty papers a day with the slow business and terrible headlines. No one wanted to be out in a blizzard to buy a stupid headline like _Flu Season to Come Early_ , but that just meant kids were out longer trying to sell it.

Elmer was no exception to the slow business. He wouldn’t call himself a great seller in the first place, and it wasn’t helping that his regulars were hiding behind closed doors to wait out the storm.

His teeth were chattering as he shoved his money back in his bag. He rubbed his hands on his thin trousers, trying in vain to bring feeling back to his numb, trembling fingers. He could barely curl them into fists, and if someone tried to mug him and his unimpressive twenty cents, he wouldn’t last long.

He sighed, breath visible in the air in front of him. The sun was quickly lowering in the sky, casting the city in shadows. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t have much time until he’d be surrounded by darkness, and he didn’t have enough to pay the lodging fee. Hell, he didn’t have enough to afford a meal.

He took a helpless look at the alley he was standing in, contemplating his choices. There weren’t that many. Technically… it wouldn’t be the first time he’d slept outside in the cold. And with the Refuge shut down and Snyder behind bars, if the cops saw a homeless kid sleeping in the snow, there wasn’t much they could do about it. Worst case scenario, they might haul him to an orphanage, and that was easier to escape than the Refuge.

There was barely any light left in the sky, and the wind was blowing harsher, stinging his cheeks and cracking his lips. Elmer was cold. He didn’t want to be standing out in an alley, hugging himself to preserve the trickles of warmth left in his body. He wanted to go home.

_No one’s gonna come lookin’, anyway. It’s not like anyone will miss you. There’s kids that deserve those beds more, and everyone knows it. Stop complaining._

Rubbing his eyes and biting back a rush of tears, he slid down the cold brick wall and fell to his knees in the snow. He fished his leftover papers out of his bag. It was too late to sell them back to the distribution gates, and he doubted Weasel would take them when he’d dropped the bundle in the snow three times today.

Tucking the papers under his head and pulling his hat over his face, he curled up in the back corner of the alley, squeezing his eyes shut and willing sleep to come.

He was cold. He was numb. He wanted to go home, but the devil on his shoulder was louder than the raging winds in his ears. _It’s not home if no one cares that you’re gone._

~

“Hey. Hey, kid.”

Elmer opened his eyes sluggishly, lifting his head from his arms to face the cold wind biting his ears. His lips were cracked and dry, fingers numb and teeth chattering. There were crescent-shaped marks in his sleeves from gripping his arms so tightly, trying to preserve warmth in the little ball he’d curled in to protect himself.

It was too dark to see, but there was a hand on his chest and another in his hair, and Elmer had one guess to who it was.

He coughed and cleared his throat, looking up with bleary, red eyes until they adjusted to the night sky and he could see the worried creases in Jack’s forehead. 

“Hey, Jackie.”

Jack rolled his eyes and sat back on his heels, unconcerned with the snow beneath his feet. “Hey, yourself. Wanna tell me what you’re doin’ out here?” He jerked his head down the road. “The lodge is that way, idiot. You’ve only been sleepin’ there every night for two years.”

Elmer glanced towards the mouth of the alley half-heartedly, remembering blearily that he was sitting in a bank of snow. Duane Street was at least four blocks away. He wondered what Jack was doing out so late; the moon was hanging in the sky, and it had to be almost midnight.

“I know,” he said, too exhausted to keep his eyes open, let alone form more than a simple sentence. He slid his eyes shut again and nestled his head in the crook of his arms. “Didn’t have enough to pay rent.”

“We would’ve spotted you some money,” Jack said, hurt in his voice. Elmer didn’t understand why, but he had a sinking feeling it was his fault.

“‘M sorry,” he said carefully, refusing to lift his head or meet Jack’s eyes. He could feel the disappointment and dread coming off in waves, and the farther he was from its source, the better. “I didn’t think anyone would care, an’ it’s just one night on the streets. Race sleeps on a bench in Central Park all the time.”

“Race is sleepin’ on…?” Jack cut himself off, visibly deciding to pick his battles. “Listen, dumbass, we would’ve sure as fuck cared that you were sleepin’ in an alley during a damn _blizzard_.” He waved a hand at the raging storm beyond the safety of the alley, where Elmer was pretty confident in saying he hadn’t seen the worst of it. The fire escape hanging above his head gave him refuge from the loud winds, and he wasn’t _that_ cold. Just… a little bit numb. 

“No one’s sleepin’ outside tonight,” Jack continued. “Kloppman’s puttin’ two or three kids in a bed just so they don’t have to be out and catch the flu or somethin’. Besides, you’re gonna get your ass taken to an orphanage or some shit if you keep this up. You’re annoyin’, but we ain’t that sick of you.”

Elmer stayed silent and stared at his boots between his knees, trembling slightly.

“Elmer, you’re really stupid and you can’t sell a bad headline to save your life,” Jack nudged Elmer’s chin with a finger to get him to look up, “but even you should’ve known we’d care if we found you dead behind a dumpster tomorrow.”

Elmer sniffed, which was _definitely_ from the weather, absolutely positive, one hundred percent. “Didn’t want you to think I couldn’t sell, either,” he admitted. “Remember when Crutchie had a nightmare that you ditched him ‘cause of his limp? I… I was really cold and upset and I couldn’t stop thinkin’ that…”

“For God’s sake,” Jack muttered. He opened his arms and dragged Elmer closer, raking a hand through his frost-bitten hair. “We’re family, you idiot. We’re all doin’ this shit together, and we don’t pick and choose kids. Otherwise, we would’ve thrown Race out a long time ago.”

Elmer laughed, cheeks stinging as his smile widened. “You’re dumb.”

“You too,” Jack said dryly. He stood up and bent over, slinging Elmer over his shoulder before he knew what was happening. Which was kind of ruining Elmer’s tough guy vibe, to be honest.

“I can _walk,_ ” he protested.

“But you won’t, if we’re bein’ real,” Jack said, pulling his collar over his mouth as he ducked out of the alley to face the New York streets. “I’m gonna guess you ain’t been eatin’, either, so I’d rather have a whiny kid that one passin’ out on the sidewalk.”

Elmer opened his mouth, then closed it. He didn’t really have a good argument for that, even when he was hanging upside down over Jack’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He decided to settle on a corny joke, which he was better at.

“Talk about whiny. It’s midnight and we’re four blocks out from the lodge, just so you could beg me to sleep inside, you big sap.”

“Watch it, squirt, or I’m dumpin’ you back in the snow.”

They spent the rest of the trip in comfortable silence, struggling to be heard over the wind blowing harshly in their ears. When Jack threw the lodging house door open and dumped Elmer on his feet, they were met with resounding looks of relief and joy from the newsies that had stayed up to wait. Albert ruffled his hair and Crutchie hugged him tightly. As Race threw a rough arm around him and tugged him upstairs to the bunk rooms, Elmer caught Jack out of the corner of his eye, putting a dime on Kloppman’s desk for his rent.

Elmer grinned, warmth encasing his heart for the first time all night. It wasn’t because of the roof over his head or the blanket Race wrapped around his shoulders, but because of Jack’s pocket change and Race’s worried eyes and Albert’s smile and Crutchie’s embrace. He’d get teased for the life of him if he ever admitted it out loud, but maybe that’s what made his heart warmer, what made it all worth it when he was finally home.

**Author's Note:**

> not pictured:
> 
> jack: you're sleeping on a bench in the snow?? ur dead bitch
> 
> race: fuck you elmer
> 
> come yell at me on tumblr @sun-kissed-star love u all have an amazing day :)


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